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Epilogue
Cora
As time passes things get clearer on what needs to change. the first huge step was punishing those who were out to harm others. Not a day goes by where we do not receive new reports from people wanting to inform us of a crime. A task force has been set up to help handle the situation and find justice for the victims.
Thomas and Elliot worked hard on forming a new type of what was once called the police. These men and women are tasked with learning the truth and helping bring justice to those who are victims as well as those who are falsely accused.
Our personal life has also moved forward and gotten stronger. Over time I learned to work through the pain from my attack and with Thomas’s help, I have made peace with that incident. I have even started a support group for women who have been attacked in any way to get help from each other.
“Cora, please sit down and take it easy. I don’t want you getting too tired or hurting yourself or the baby.” I
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The Reaping Prologue
In the year 2054, there was an outbreak of an illness that hit so quickly that no one had a chance to prepare for it. Billions of people died within weeks. To this day no one is sure what caused the illness, where it came from, and if it is truly gone. Countries fell and chaos ensued.Over the next fifty years, some groups slowly became powerful and took over the fallen countries. North America was taken over by the group named The Chosen. The Chosen was a group of people who were immune to the illness who used that to their advantage. They used it to take complete control of the continent. Everything from what was Canada to the tip of what was Mexico was theirs.Throughout the years many more would die from starvation as well as the lawlessness that was rampant until the Chosen took over. Towns
The Reaping 1
CoraI find myself standing in front of a man whose face I can't see but I feel that I should fear him. I am standing with the rest of the women for the reaping knowing that I am going to be picked by this man who is scaring me. I hear a voice say my name and I know it's over for me. Any chance of me going back home to my village is gone. All hope of having a happy life is destroyed as soon as I see the devious smirk on his face.I feel myself begin to shake and I hear a scream rip from my mouth as I feel the hands of the guards begin to pull me away. I kick and scream begging for someone to help me, but no one moves. All eyes are on the ground and I feel my heart shatter as I see Michael look away.I startle awake with sweat covering my face. I still feel myself shaking and I feel like there is nothing that will calm me down. Then the realization that it was a dream hits me full force and I fall back on
The Reaping 2
CoraThe next few weeks go by much faster than I hoped they would. I haven't seen or heard from Michael and I think that it is for the best. I spend my time working and soaking up every second I can with my family. My grandparents are trying to hide the pain that they are in knowing that I will be leaving in the morning. I have always been much closer to them and I feel as if they think of me as more of a daughter than their grandchild. My father has always been rather cold when it comes to family and I think that it is a result of Chosen's teachings rather than what he learned from his parents. Affection is something that you just don't give and sex is merely the means to create life. The saddest part of it all is that when I look at my mother, I can see all the longing she has. She wants to be loved and cared for. She has sat by and watched my grandparents and she knows what true love is, she just hasn't experienced it for herself.
The Reaping 3
CoraThe drive to the facility is filled with silence. There were only about twenty people on my bus as there was very few this year. Both males and females alike sat like stones and were lost in their thoughts. My mind drifted back to my home and the idea that my father was most likely still yelling at my family. I would have never had the guts to speak to him the way I did had it not been for the fact that I was leaving. I still can't help but wonder to myself if he has ever loved anyone. He grew up with loving parents but with all that was happening during that time, I can see how that might change him for the worse.I often had to hide my true self from him and my mother. He had never really abused us but he had this way about him that made you feel like there was no room for argument and that if you pushed him hard enough he may crack. I think that his coldness created a new person in my mother. I could at times see the fi
The Reaping 4
ThomasThe morning of the reaping is one that is always busy for the people in the headquarters. Everyone makes sure that the event goes off without a hitch. I on the other hand have to spend this morning meeting the newest member of the Chosen. There is one man who scored higher than anyone has in a long time so he was picked to join the ranks here in headquarters."Thomas the young man is here." I hear a voice come through the intercom system. Amazingly after the great illness, we have been able to restore almost all of the technology we had at the time. Although it works most people do not have access to certain things. That is one of the things that I have been working to change."Send him in." The next second the door opens and a young man walks in. He is tall with blonde hair and I can tell that he is very popular with the ladies. He already has an arrogant air to him, so I can tell that he is goin
The Reaping 5
ThomasAs those words left my mouth I looked over to Michael who was seated to the side. His face visibly paled and I saw the huge gulp that he took when he realized he had been busted. At this moment I received so much satisfaction that I almost smiled. I knew that I couldn't do that as it would show emotion. I had been trained from an early age that as the next leader that to anyone who was not family I had to appear to be a tyrant with no feeling.Throughout the years that had been many stories circulated that made me sound like a heartless monster. That couldn't be further from the truth but I had to make sure that those outside my circle saw me as just that, a monster. My only fear in this is that my mate would be terrified of me. I knew that only those who were just after power would easily come to me and try to seduce me and want to be my mate. I had never entertained a woman because I always wanted to wait for the woman
The Reaping 6
CoraI look into his eyes more confused than I think I have ever been. No one has ever said that I am above them. I know my family cares about me but even they have never lifted me above them. Yet I sit here looking into the eyes of the man that leads a whole continent of people and he says that I am greater."You look like you don't believe me." He says with a chuckle, and I feel myself begin to relax again. He smiles at me. "Cora I have waited to find someone that I thought I would be able to love. I waited to meet the woman I would fall in love with. I listened to your answer to your questions and I know that you are looking for the same thing. You have never been intimate with anyone and neither have I. I want us to try and make this a real relationship and not just a mating."I know that I am sitting here with my mouth hanging wide open and look like a total idiot. I take a moment and study this man in front of me. He is beyond handsome and it is obvious
The Reaping 7
CoraThomas looks at me in anticipation as I sit and contemplate my next answer. I look once again into those eyes that seem to always captivate me and I know how I should answer.“Yes, I did often feel like I had no freedom. I’m not sure how much you have been outside of the headquarters or how many villages you have actually seen, but women are not treated as equals. There are very few men who actually care about their mates. I was lucky enough to live in a home where my father wasn’t physically abusing my mother. Well, at least not where I had ever witnessed it. My grandparents were together before the reaping so they were actually in love.” I see the look on his face and I can see that he has not heard this or at the very least knew that it was a widespread problem. “Most women in my village were with men who would abuse them. They were treated as second class citizens. That is why I have acted the way I have. I was
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